School for 6 year olds an obligation soon?

What age do Polands children start school? In the USA the age is 5 and our pre school is prior to that being 3-4 year olds. High school is 18 when most finish.



http://www.polskieradio.pl/zagranica/news/artykul76469_School_for_6_ye ar_olds_an_obligation_soon.html

"finish" is such a polite word :)

New Idea? In Holland (and most other countries in Europe) kids go from their 6th to their 12th (if they pass all classes and are not born on awkward months that fall after the start of the schoolyear in September: October, November and December, then they are generally one year younger when they start) to elementary school and then from 12 to 18 to highschool. School is mandatory until they are 16 and parents keeping their children at home for whatever reasons are going to get in real trouble...

M-G

"real trouble"

Do you have home schooling? In the US we can homeschool and must have the children pass a test from the state. Studies show that most of the homeschooled children do better.

Yes, but their socializing skills are probably a lot lower than other children.. which is very important today.

No, that is not allowed in Holland.

M-G

This is a great point, for that reason the children are able to take classes in schools, like music, art or even math, english. Whatever the child would do better in school with. Plus we have alot of extra after school sports. My daughter stated kind. this year and her class consists of 11 children, it's great because they all get lots of attention and no child falls behind. She started at 5 years old and they want the children reading and writing when they start in Sept.

Governments want simply start to control our children as soon as possible, affect them with certain values. Also bureaucrats and teachers want to create more jobs for themselves thus they will always support such ideas.



I think that this is possible but rather unpracticed because parents would need strictly stick to official program. If so, this is nonessential to bother even if you would have enough time.

The x-husbands sister was homeschooling her kids and they were dumber than a rock. She herself never got any education and was a potato farmer so that's all they expected from their kids anyway. They were quiet, shy around other kids, no goals in life, no discipline of getting up, dressed to go to school, waiting for the schoolbus, no excitment, anticipations, studying like mad for an exam, etc. which is important later in life when working. She could never replace a music teacher, a chemistry teacher, math teacher all in one person when she herself has no clue about things. They missed out a lot in life without having new friends, no sports events, no cheerleading try-outs.
Now one daughter is married to another homeschooled kid and they bought a potato farm and work in a factory.

Where in the USA are you? In Connecticut the children are monitored by the state, they must achive high standards. I send my children to school, but I have been impressed with children's education level that are home schooled here. Our public schools IMO repeat vs new up to date material.

This depends who is dealing with home-schooling. We should not forbid somebody to do it only because somebody else have no such skills.

I am not as impressed with homeschooling in the US, as some people there are.

I was born and raised in the States and lived my whole life there 'til we recently moved to Poland.

I unfortunately saw quite a bit of poor quality homeschooling, in the state of PA.

Cheating appeared to be rampant in the homeschooling system where I am from, because the checks and balances just are not where they should be yet.

Older sibs--or mom, for goodness sake--wrote the homework or papers, kids plagiarized from the internet, there were no trips to the city or visits to the library, or field trips of any kind, during an entire school year!

Some of these people barely ever left the house.

That's fine for hermits or closed religious societies like the Amish, but not for growing children, who will be required to fit into the larger society they are a part of, someday.

I take issue with the notion that "the state is evil or Godless", which is a concept you often see being taught in many homeschool environments in the US.

I also particularly disliked the "we must start homeschooling, to protect our kids from the lower class scum out there" attitude, that many homeschooling families in our area seemed to have. We lived in an affluent area and that was absurd, to me.

I understand the concept that a parent may want something they see as better for their kids, or moms and dads having concerns about violence, drugs, etc.

But by isolating their kids from all their peers and removing them completely from situations where judgement comes into play when they're younger, what they end up teaching the kids is that "different" is always "dangerous", that the absence of tempation is the same thing as virtue, and that "their" way is the "only" way of life and learning.

A lot of these kids simply do not mix well with others, can't handle peer pressure when it does come at the college level, and in my own personal experience, make some of the worst employees. They simply would not show up on time, complete a task through to the end, follow the rules, or make even a minor attempt to change bad behavior when it was brought to their attention.

3 of 5 I had over a 2 year period, I had to fire within a month. The other 2 quit within 3 months because the work was "too hard". Too hard? A part-time, white-collar, office job that paid $8.00 US per hour?

My other "normal" kids from the local high school (almost) never argued back--and certainly never to my face.

Why would they? I was their boss's boss.

They recognized there was a line they should not cross in an office enviroment/power heirarchy. I didn't have to teach them how to behave like an adult, or how to conduct themselves in an office.

But the homeschooled kids? No problem questioning authority, at all. They spoke to me in the same way I imagine they spoke to mom and dad when they were raging about something they got grounded for. Funny at home, maybe, but not in the real world. Which is where these kids ultimately end up.

This may not be the case where you live or lived, celinski and lesser, and for that you should be grateful. I am glad your experiences/brushes with homeschooling have been so positive.

Personally, my opinion is that it's a good idea in theory, but that in practice, homeschooling in the US leaves a lot to be desired.

I guess you are right there is good and bad in any system. I wanted my children to have the buddies and structure of school. I also continue to try new learning with trips of our own. I'm not sure yet who enjoys the trips more, me or the kids.



This seems like child abuse, why take on the resposibility of your own childs mind with such selfish behavior. I view my children as my most important job I will ever hold. They learn so much is such a short time, IMO many US schools do not challange the ability to learn enough. I always strive to introduce new views and learning experances. How sad for a child to be denied a sound foundation.

From what I understand, the idea is that attendance at *pre-school* will be required for 6 y/olds.

I think it's a good idea.
Notalotta learning happens in this class (from my memory), but at least it introduces the idea of "sit here and be quiet" :)

When my daughter entered K1 some of the children in her class were less than 6 months short of their 8th birthday and had never been in a school environment before. To say it was difficult to hold their attention would be an understatement ...

Kindergarten in the US starts at age 5 but it is not mandatory in the state of Wisconsin so you can send your child to first grade at age six. In Poland first grade starts at age seven. I sarted school in the US then moved to Poland and was always the youngest in class so 6 year old isn't too young.
My 4 year old goes to preschool for 3.5 hours a day. They also call it the 4-year old kindergarten and he's really smart.

can he milk a cow yet..

He can milk a hamster and make cheese curds out of the milk.

Bookratt
you have to be bloody high in ur idealism of home school learning. Maybe the PA. lifstyle and teachers are back country however it isnt so in minnesota. you make it sound that the children are cut off from all other activity's in life and not well rounded. What a awful explaination to people in other countries.
My next door neighbor has had all his children home schooled. Each one has made it thru college and all have extremely good jobs.

I began kindergarten a month after I turned 5 years old, and first grade at 6. My half sister home schooled all three of her children, and they have all graduated from college now.